March Madness is here and there will be many of you that head out to Las Vegas with your buddies for the annual guy's trip to watch the tournament. For some the first round with the chaos and Cinderella upsets are your choice for when to spend the week in the desert, for others it's when the elite teams advance into the Sweet 16 and Elite 8, and for the rest of the Vegas going sports and betting fans you wait until the Final Four to take your destination trip to Sin City.
I am here to tell you you're missing the best weekend and that is the week before the field of 68 begins. March Madness isn't named the madness strictly because of the bracketed tournament, but because the conference tournaments are as mad as it gets. In Las Vegas the week before we start filling out our brackets has become my favorite time to go.
Las Vegas hosts 3 to 4 conference tournaments a year, all held around town, each has a unique flair to them. The Mountain West tournament is the bigger of them hosted on UNLV's home court and with a national TV audience will get you the most bang for your buck. This year four teams made the big dance and the Colorado State Rams, who won the tourney, lasted the longest in the big dance.
They also host the Big West out in Henderson, only a short 15-minute drive from the strip, and the WAC is held inside the Orleans Arena, which is attached to the Orleans hotel.
Only in Vegas can you be live betting on your phone only feet from the opposing bench, while inside of an arena where you can walk 10 minutes away and be inside the casino of the same name. As far as a party weekend goes this might not for the popping bottles and driving race car crowd, but for sports fans and bettors it simply doesn't get any better.
This week I was able to catch 3 or 4 games per day and on a good championship Saturday they are spaced out where you can jet across town and make every championship game, in every different venue.
There is a certain beauty for the mid major schools. The band is a little more impactful, the cheerleaders a little more personable and knowing that it is a win or go home scenario for most teams makes the pressure filled arena even that much more of a fun atmosphere. From a betting perspective watching the game unfold in front of you in real time gives you an edge that a TV delay takes away.
So, next year when the guys suggest your annual Vegas basketball weekend, instead of waiting to fill out your brackets try Vegas for the conference tournaments. You won't be disappointed, and your sports fandom will only grow.